Mobile App Roundup: Android App Downloads, Nexon and THQ

Android App Downloads Overtake iOS, App Store Not Far Behind – According to a new report from ABI Research, 44% of app downloads in the third quarter were for Android devices, compared to iOS’ 31% share of the market. Currently for every device running iOS, there are 2.4 devices running Android. In other app news, research2guidance has found that the Android market has now published 500,000 mobile apps, compared to the 600,000 available on the App store. Of note is the interesting statistic that more than 37% of apps within the Android store were later removed, but only 24% of apps have been removed from the iOS store once they were published.

Apples to Apples Going Social, Mobile – THQis teaming with Mattel to take the popular party game Apples to Apples into the digital realm. The game will be available on Facebook and mobile devices, as well as on Xbox Live and Playstation Network in time for the 2011 holiday season.

Millennial Media: Mobile Ad Impressions Way Up – Mobile advertising network Millennial Mediahas released its third quarter report, and according to the numbers, iOS impressions grew by 60% and iPad impressions grew by 456%. While Apple was the #1 manufacturer for impressions, overall Android was the leading OS, with 56% of ad impressions. Gaming was the number one app category in the company’s network.

There is an App for That – A study by Distimo has found that almost all the world’s top brands (i.e., household names like Coke, Disney, BMW) now have some sort of app. According to the report, 91% of top brands have an app store presence, up from 51% of top brands 18 months ago.

116.8 Million Latin Americans Will be Mobile Social Network Users by 2015 – The Latin American mobile market is growing quickly, and if the pace holds, almost 117 million people will make mobile devices their platform of choice for accessing social networking sites by 2015, according to a new report from Pyramid Research.

Namco Bandai Apps On Sale For Halloween – In celebration of Halloween, Namco Bandai has discounted the prices on many of its iOS and Android apps by 50%. The sale ends at midnight on October 31st and includes popular titles from the developer like Puzzle Quest and PAC-MAN.

Nexon’s Latest Game to Use Unreal 3 Engine – Korean developer Nexon has licensed Epic’s Unreal Engine 3 for their latest iOS title, Combat Arms: Zombies. The game will be a spin-off from Nexon’s popular online FPS Combat Arms, and will be unveiled at South Korea’s G-Star Game Expo before its official launch.

TeePee Recruiting Beta Testers – UK based TeePee Games is recruiting gamers interested in playing social, online and mobile games before their release. Beta testers will be compensated for the work, which will include reporting on bugs and giving feedback on features and possible improvements. The deadline to sign up for a beta testing role is October 30th, and all those interested must register an account at www.teepeegames.com and send an email to Darren Newnham, TeePee Games’ director of content: darren (dot) newnham (at) teepeegames (dot) com.

Appcelerator Bags Particle Code – Cross platform mobile app development suite Appceleratorhas bought HTML 5 development platform Particle Code to add support for the growing format to its flagship product, Appcelerator Titanium. The acquisition means that Appcelerator’s tools will soon support web and native app development for Android, iOS and HTML5.

Tagplay Scoops Scottish Business Award – Scottish developer Tagplay has been honored with the Digital Business Award for Best Game for their iOS title Funpark Friends. The awards are handed out annually by the The Herald, a leading UK newspaper. Funpark friends was released on October 1st.